Hear Me, See Me

Incarcerated Women Write

by Ed. Maybeth Christie Redmond & Sarah W Bartlett

This is raw, brilliant and challenging reading. This is a beautifully put together book, taking the reader on a journey with women that most of us will never meet.

This collection of mostly short pieces of autobiographical prose and poetry changes that complacency pretty quickly. I couldn't take the emotional rawness all at once, but dipped into the book a little bit at a time. Its a rich resource volume with a mix of content including occasional drawings.

We are offered all stages of growth here. Some of the women write defiantly, attempting to justify bad decisions made on top of bad breaks. Others speak of betrayals, struggles and losses of all kinds. The pain and confusion is something of real magnitude.

This is a hard, but needful read. This can't, and doesn't deserve to be read lightly. It will invite understanding, tears and much compassion. This is challenging, painful and hopeful.

The best writing makes us yearn to understand more; it stays within our consciousness well past the point at which we put the book down. And this is what is powerfully offered here.